Kavanagh, SR;
Walsh, A;
Scanlon, DO;
(2021)
Rapid Recombination by Cadmium Vacancies in CdTe.
ACS Energy Letters
10.1021/acsenergylett.1c00380.
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Abstract
CdTe is currently the largest thin-film photovoltaic technology. Non-radiative electron–hole recombination reduces the solar conversion efficiency from an ideal value of 32% to a current champion performance of 22%. The cadmium vacancy (VCd) is a prominent acceptor species in p-type CdTe; however, debate continues regarding its structural and electronic behavior. Using ab initio defect techniques, we calculate a negative-U double-acceptor level for VCd, while reproducing the VCd1– hole–polaron, reconciling theoretical predictions with experimental observations. We find the cadmium vacancy facilitates rapid charge-carrier recombination, reducing maximum power-conversion efficiency by over 5% for untreated CdTe—a consequence of tellurium dimerization, metastable structural arrangements, and anharmonic potential energy surfaces for carrier capture.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Rapid Recombination by Cadmium Vacancies in CdTe |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1021/acsenergylett.1c00380 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.101610.1021/acsenergylett.1c003... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Chemistry |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10125289 |
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